“And well, what is the situation?”

“The troops have been deployed at the planned points, but for now there is no trace of the supposed visitor, your Majesty,” Ricardo informed.

“So, I understand that there is no news from other kingdoms either,” inquired the queen.

“Our spies have not obtained any relevant information, although it is true that practically none of the kingdoms has put forth any means to look for him.”

“Then we are still at the starting point. Keep looking, sooner or later he will have to leave wherever he is hidden.”

That said, the queen got up and left, while the nobles gathered were bowing. It was a puzzling situation, because, although many of them were waiting for the opportunity to rub their noses in the failure of the others, or their own triumph, nobody knew if there was even something to find. Or almost nobody knew.

“So, what do we know?” Asked Ricardo when he was alone with the woman who always wore black.

“One of the assassins saw somebody for a moment, but disappeared into the rock immediately. Apparently, there is a very powerful force field there, impossible to go through,” answered Elsa.

“Could it be one of the entrances used by visitors?”

“It is what we believe, but it is impossible to prove it without taking it down. And that would not only mean a lot of effort, but the Supreme Council would not like it. Besides, if he were, we would only alert him.”

“I get it. I suppose you have put surveillance.”

“Of course, although it is possible that he does not come back there. He may have seen us, or he may no longer need to return. That is why we have moved the majority of our troops from Emerald Forest to Ruby Forest,” explained Elsa.

“If it were like that, his growth would be really fast. We cannot afford to waste time.”

“True, we should try to catch him as soon as possible, now that we know there really is someone. And, if we cannot, we must prepare for the worst.”

“What’ve you been planning?” Ricardo asked curiously. Until now, they hadn’t talked about it.

“Let’s say that I may know the right person to help us if things go wrong.”

Ricardo looked at Elsa knowing that she wasn’t going to tell him more. The duchess never revealed more than necessary, and knew how to keep her secrets, something necessary in her position. After all, she was the link between two opposing worlds, the high nobility and the underworld. And he also knew that, if she had told her about her future plans, it was for something.

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“What do you need from me?”

She smiled at the suspicious tone of her accomplice. They had been working together for a long time, enough to know that a betrayal between them would only bring them complications. It would be difficult to find a better partner, and each of them knew secrets that could tear down the other. Collaboration was much better than a suicidal confrontation.

“We know that they have sent troops to the Esmeralda, Sapphire and Ruby forests, and that for now they haven’t found anything. They also control a spring and are looking for a village that isn’t supposed to be far away, although they don’t devote many resources to it. Apparently it’d be well camouflaged,” informed Threefingers.

Everyone nodded, since no one had brought any new information. Not even Lidia’s representative had brought anything new. There was no sign of the visitor, neither in this kingdom nor in any other. And they didn’t even know if it was normal for visitors.

In the end, everyone was disappointed, either because they still didn’t know if their hope was real, or because they couldn’t provide information to their employer.

“And well, little one, something new?”

“I’ve told you many times to not call me that! I’m over forty years old!” Ted protested.

“But if you barely look twenty!” she pretended to be surprised,

“You’re always the same …,” he complained, sighing.

Lidia laughed heartily, imagining her son’s face with swollen cheeks. She couldn’t help but tease him, it was too tempting.

“We managed to get the guild to send some adventurers to the dungeon, to locate the missing ones from several years ago. As planned, the mission was taken by our people,” explained Ted.

“What did they find?”

“Three tombs. Someone had engraved their names, although he’d taken the plates, I guess to deliver them. There’re two details that don’t fit: supposedly no one has entered that dungeon after those adventurers, and the tombs were very recent. In addition, the slimes were distributed throughout the dungeon, as if someone had cleaned it not long ago.”

“I get it. We’ve some clues again but no confirmation,” reasoned Lidia.

“Do you think it’s him?”

“Yes. But we’ve to find it to be completely sure, and protect him. I’ll move to another area, I don’t think he’ll come back here.”

“Be careful, you’re a bit old to go on adventures,” he teased.

“Hahaha. You still have a long way to go to tease me, you’ll have to improve, little one.”

“Don’t doubt that I’ll keep trying. But seriously, be careful, mom, there are dangerous people looking for him.”

“I know. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. I still have to meet my grandchildren. They will be so cute with pointy ears…”

“Mom!”

But the communication had already been cut off. Ted sighed, his mother loved to make fun of him and his relationship with Mideltya, an elf he was deeply in love with, but to whom he hadn’t yet dared to confess his feelings. They got along well, but the barrier between their races was a problematic obstacle, although not unbeatable. And then, there were his own unique whereabouts, because he wasn’t exactly human. Or, at least, a somewhat special human.

He sighed again and tried to calm down. He was completely red.

Lidia was convinced that it was him, that he was the person the assassin had seen, the same assassin who had been lucky enough to have her prey escape. Otherwise, Lidia would have been forced to leave her hiding place and kill her.

She had discovered her and had been watching her, hoping she had information that she didn’t. And out of it or luckily, she had found something.

What was clear was that, if he had completed the dungeon, his strength was too high for that place, so he would go to the Ruby forest. Or, if he had seen the woman and the soldiers, perhaps he would be more cautious, in which case it was impossible to know what he would do.

So, she had to update her plans and inform her comrades. The worst thing was that now the kingdom had a clue of his presence, while they didn’t have enough evidence to make it public and threaten the nobility.